Understanding Race: Anthropology's Insight on Social Constructs

2-1 Discussion: The Issue of Race Watch Skin Color Is an Illusion and read pages 195–200 (Part II, H7-3) and pages 423–424 (Part IV, H15-3) in your textbook. Race is a powerful and contentious topic in today's society. How does anthropology, as a discipline, define race? Explain why it is difficult to use biological characteristics to categorize people into races. In response to your peers, either agree or disagree with their answers on race and biology. Explain your rationale. Biological anthropology uses two concepts of race, one is the scientific concept of race (refers to a population that has measurable, defining characteristics. This roughly translates to each “race” being a

subspecies.) and the other is a culturally constructed concept of race (referring to cultural ideologies and dynamics being linked with structural traits (i.e. skin pigmentation, body shape, or cranial structure) to create a “biologized” category.) (Anthropology, p.195). Race is difficult to categorize because it doesn’t really exist. It is a way that society has decided to try and

group people together because they share similar biological traits (i.e. skin pigment) and personality traits. Biological anthropology uses two concepts of race, one is the scientific concept of race (refers to a population that has measurable, defining characteristics. This roughly translates to each “race” being a subspecies.) and the other is a culturally constructed

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concept of race (referring to cultural ideologies and dynamics being linked with structural traits (i.e. skin pigmentation, body shape, or cranial structure) to create a “biologized” category.) (Anthropology, p.195). Race is difficult to categorize because it doesn’t really exist. It is a way that society has decided to try and group people together because they share similar

biological traits (i.e. skin pigment) and personality traits. Race is a very complex issue today, especially in America, and many believe it categorizes biological differences between groups of people. Anthropology, as a discipline, defines two concepts of race including a scientific concept which defines race with measurable biological differences and a cultural concept which includes “cultural ideologies and dynamics that are linked to an artificial biologized category” (Welsch, 2019, p.195). Though, ultimately, anthropology concludes that race is a social construct creating a “hierarchy” through social, economic, and political processes. Biologically, skin does not have color, but rather pigmentation, which is variations in reflection and absorption of light that has changed over time as a product of evolution ( Jablonski, 2009) . It is difficult to use biological characteristics to categorize people into races because biological differences are complex and vary more within a group of people than between groups of people (Welsch, 2019). Even within a “race”, people may have many different pigmentations. Race cannot accurately describe an individual or a group of individuals. Separating people into categories due to one trait leads to misrepresentations of the person and prejudice opinions. Categories are also unstable and shift slowly over time due in large part to migration and gene flow (Welsch, 2019). Jablonski, N. (February, 2009), TED Talk, Skin Color is an Illusion, Nina Jablonski: Skin color is an illusion | TED Talk Welsch, R. (2019). Anthropology (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. Hi Mercedes, Anthropologists have also determined that race is a social construct created to make a social hierarchy for power (Welsch, 2019). I agree that it is difficult to use biological characteristics to categorize people into races for many reasons. One is that there would be more differences within the group than between groups

(Welsch, 2019). There are many variations in humans, such as height, shape, and circumference. Another reason is that characteristics can also be created and developed due to the life path of a human. One thing that got me thinking in this week’s reading was tanning. When traveling to a lower latitude for a period of time, one may develop more melanin, changing the skin’s pigmentation. Would the person become a different “race” ? The skin may appear many different “colors” when they return home, and the tan begins to fade. Welsch, R. (2019). Anthropology (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. Hello! I hope what I am about to write makes sense. I am writing this at the end of a 19 hour shift... Here goes nothing. Race is defined in Anthropology as what features you can categorize certain people with and the other is by culture. These differences can include skin colour, eye colour, what people wear or what the eat. It is difficult to use all these examples due to the fact that people are not always able to be defined in black and white. One of the more concrete ways that a person can categorize others is by DNA or by history. I hope everyone is having a good term so far and I wish everybody luck with all your endeavors. Hi Jessie, I agree that people cannot be defined by placing them in categories. Humans are so complex with genetic variations, physiological variations, biological variations, and cultural variations therefore, placing them into one category based on a physical or cultural feature does not tell us anything about that person (Welsch, 2019). This leads to prejudices, opinions, and misrepresentations. I did like that you mentioned, the more accurate way to categorize people is DNA, although I believe anthropologists categorize humans by blood type instead. Still, there are many variations with over 15 known blood-type systems and many genetic variations of the human leukocyte antigen system (HLA) within the blood (Welsch, 2019).

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Welsch, R. (2019). Anthropology (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US.

ATH 101 Discussion 2

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